South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has greenlighted Novavax Inc.’s Nuvaxovid, making it the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for commercial use in the country. The regulatory win for Novavax adds to emergency use authorizations (EUA) for the product, also known as NVX-CoV2373, in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as an emergency use listing from the World Health Organization. On Jan. 12, the company said it expects to submit an EUA request to the FDA after one month.
SCG Cell Therapy Pte. Ltd. has acquired rights to human induced pluripotent stem cell technology from Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)’s Accelerate Technologies Pte. Ltd. to support the development of natural killer (NK) cell therapies for leukemia, liver cancer, gastric cancer and other solid tumors.
Prism Biolab Co. Ltd. has added Genentech Inc., a unit of Roche Holding AG, to the list of users for its peptide mimetic small-molecules library after signing a multitarget research collaboration and licensing agreement.
Inveniai LLC and Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. have expanded their partnership a second time, inking their most recent multiple drug discovery agreement. The multiyear deal will see the duo discover novel targets and treatments for therapeutic areas across Kyowa Kirin’s portfolio and areas of interest using Inveniai’s artificial intelligence (AI) platform.
Computational technology and high-quality data will help scientists to improve R&D and find better treatments for human diseases, according to experts at the Wuxi Global Forum 2022.
Sirnaomics Ltd. became the first RNA therapeutics company to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) with a $64 million initial public offering. Its shares (HKEX:2277) have since surged, rising to HK$93.90 ($12.04) on Jan. 4 following their debut at HK$65.90 per share.
PERTH, Australia – Australia should be at the front of the line among developed nations when it comes to innovative drugs and devices, but health policies must evolve to respond to changes in technology and global trends, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) said. Although Australia’s health policy has served the country well, tensions in the system are becoming seismic shifts that mirror international trends, J&J said in a recent report on Australia’s health system.
India’s Department of Pharmaceuticals (DOD) released draft guidelines to boost research and development in its pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The document touched on the reasons for a dedicated R&D and innovation policy, which involved reducing import dependence, increasing the speed of biologic and biosimilar development cycles, and tackling infrastructural challenges.
Legochem Biosciences Inc. has licensed out its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) LCB-14 to Iksuda Therapeutics Ltd. in the duo’s latest deal that is worth $1 billion. Daejeon, South Korea-based Legochem will receive $50 million in an up-front payment and near-term milestones, and up to $950 million in developments, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Obi Pharma Inc. has acquired global rights to BSI-04702, an anti-trophoblast antigen 2 (Trop2) humanized monoclonal antibody (MAb), from Biosion Inc. Obi is granted exclusive rights for further preclinical and clinical development, registration and commercialization of the candidate as an antibody-drug conjugate and other derivative products.